Surface Properties of Advanced Materials and Their Applications in Ballistics

Master's thesis. — Texas A&M University. 2010. — 113 p.This thesis research investigates the surface properties and performances of gold nanoparticles, microarc oxidation coating, and epitaxial nano-twinned copper film. The research aims to understand the critical behavior of material surfaces in order to facilitate design and development of new materials for tribological applications. The research will focus on improving of the gun barrel performances. Experimental approaches will be used for combining analysis with basic thermal energy transfer principles. Results obtained here will be used for developing new materials to be used in facilitating gun barrels. Experimental approach includes scanning calorimetry-thremogravimetric analysis, tribological testing, and potentiodynamic polarization. The fundamental understanding obtained here will be beneficial for the gun barrel design, manufacturing, and military technologies followed by the results of experiments with different three types of materials. The results of this research showed that the coatings with microarc oxidation and nano-twinned structure improved wear resistance from the tribological examinations and size of AuNPs affected their thermal behaviors measured by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis method.